Brownsville Revival

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The Brownsville Revival (also known as The Pensacola Outpouring) was a widely-reported religious event that began within the Pentecostal movement in 1995. The revival began unexpectedly at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida on Father's Day. Evangelist Steve Hill was the guest speaker for that day, having been invited by Pastor John Kilpatrick. It was claimed that hundreds of those who attended services that day were moved to renew their faith during Hill's sermon, said to be moved by the Holy Spirit. Characteristics of the Brownsville Revival movement, as with other Christian religious revivals, included acts of repentance by parishioners and a call to holiness, said to be inspired by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Some of the occurrences in this revival fit the description of moments of religious ecstasy.

Though the primary part of the revival ended in 2000 when Hill relocated his ministry to Dallas, Texas to resume evangelistic crusades, the church continued to hold special Friday-night services until 2006 that were a continuation of the event. More than three million people from nearly every continent are reported to have attended the meetings since their inception.

In 2003, Hill founded a church in the Dallas area where he now serves as senior pastor. Kilpatrick resigned as Brownsville Assembly of God's senior pastor in 2003 to form an evangelistic association of his own.

The meetings came under criticism by some Christians and by the local news media. The Pensacola News Journal ran a series of investigative articles which focused on the donations raised during the meetings and where those funds went, as well as the claims of miraculous healings at the services and the spontaneity of the revival's beginnings. The News Journal had initially written glowing reports about the revival from the time it began, but began a four-month investigation after former members told reporters that all was not as it appeared at the church. The series won George Polk awards from such groups as National Headliner, Scripps-Howard Foundation and Society of Professional Journalists, but was roundly criticized by evangelicals throughout the country as a "hit piece" against the church and the meetings. Brownsville Assembly of God answered the Pensacola News-Journal's allegations by publishing a two-page spread in the News-Journal entitled, "The Facts of The Brownsville Revival."